Chapter 5
Stefan Cassadine was awakened early Saturday morning by a
manicured fingernail inserted between his ribs.
"Is there any particular reason you were skulking about, hiding
an extra nursery monitor from me last night?" Laura inquired.
"Good morning, I think," replied her husband. He opened his eyes,
simultaneously moving the offending finger to his lips.
Laura pulled her right hand back and indignantly rolled onto her left side, propping herself on her elbow.
"Skulking," she muttered. "Not answering. Finger-kissing." She raised an eyebrow. "You are up to something. And trying to hide it."
"If anyone had told me that marriage would be so damaging to my aura of mystery, my mystique as a manipulator, I should surely have given the enterprise second thought."
Stefan rolled sideways to face his wife. "You wound me," he sniffed disdainfully. "Reduced to 'skulking'. And with nursery monitors, no less." Laura dissolved in laughter at his look of injured pride.
His icy voice and air of hauteur were unfortunately undermined by his eyes. He looked steadily into her eyes, stroked her hair with his left hand, then began a tactile inventory of her face. Laura sighed with pleasure as he traced the arch of her eyebrows, the line of her nose and finally, her lips before pulling her to him for a deep, satisfying kiss. He slipped his right arm beneath her and pulled her body to him while his left hand moved from her face to trace the outline of an ear, trailed down her neck and across her shoulder. He pushed an offending gown strap down her arm to bare her shoulder.
"And the point of this seduction is?" Laura murmured distractedly. Maintaining her indignant pose was becoming somewhat more difficult as his lips travelled slowly downward. From her neck to her collarbone, out to the point of her shoulder.
"It is Saturday morning and we, an old married couple. I am merely fulfilling my conjugal duty," he whispered into her ear as the gown slipped farther down her body.
"This conversation is not over yet!" Laura felt obliged to protest.
"But it is definitely postponed." Stefan smiled as he suddenly rolled to the left, pulling his wife on top of him.
Laura settled herself on the floor to play with Sergei. He was seated securely on the floor in a pillow fortress, so that there would be no harm from a sudden tumble. She loved watching his precarious balance as he worked at staying upright while reaching for toys and transferring them from one hand to another. She scattered several bright rattles within his reach. When she picked up the receiving blanket to play peep-eye with him, he began bouncing and waving his hands in anticipation of their fun.
Stefan stopped and smiled at Sergei's excitement as he emerged from his dressing room attired for riding.
"Another postponement?" asked Laura, looking and sounding none too pleased. Her mild curiosity had begun to be replaced by genuine concern.
"I have arranged for Amy to meet Wenders, Sergei, and Lesley Lu at the park this afternoon for a picnic. You and I will be traveling an hour or so out into the countryside for a private picnic of our own, if that is agreeable. We will be able to speak privately then of any concerns, and together enjoy what promises to be a beautiful afternoon. It never occurred to me," he added sheepishly, "that once married, we would still have difficulty finding time to be alone."
"It sounds lovely." Laura's smile lit up the room.
Sergei bounced on the floor, making importunate baby noises. His big eyes beseeched his mother's attention. Laura smiled down at him and touched his face.
"Let's play!" She held the blanket up in front of him, and then slowly peeked around the side. "Peep-eye!"
Sergei's crows of delight followed Stefan as he moved briskly down the hall. The first part of his plan was proceeding satisfactorily. With his usual self-discipline, he put aside his concern for Laura. This morning he needed to assure himself that Lesley Lu's new saddle was acceptable, and that her riding skills were progressing adequately. If not, a better instructor would have to be secured. There were also minor family business matters requiring his attention, and a hospital financial statement to review. He had much to accomplish before afternoon.
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It was, as her husband had promised, a beautiful fall afternoon. Laura watched his competent hands on the steering wheel of the car as they followed winding, narrow roads deeper into the countryside. The sun shone brightly. Fall had come slowly this year, and the spectacular scenery around them made it easy to forget how soon winter would be upon them. They passed occasional road-side stands with remnants of the past week's Halloween excess: unclaimed pumpkins, Jack-o-lanterns that never were, and a few weary scarecrows.
The leaves blazed on either side of them as they came to a stretch of road so narrow that the branches of the trees from either side met in the middle forming an arbor. Any sudden gust of wind caused a shower of flaming leaves to batter against the windshield. Laura gasped with delight as another shower of leaves gently pelted their vehicle.
"It's so beautiful!" She glanced at her husband to assure herself that he shared her delight, and was rewarded with the look of complete, unfeigned pleasure which his often-secretive face had learned to allow itself.
Whatever it was that they needed to discuss was not so serious that he couldn't take pleasure in the day. Laura relaxed a little, and settled back to enjoy the drive.
Soon afterward Stefan spoke. "In about another mile we should be at our destination. I know how much you love mountain streams, and there is one accessible with only a short walk. If you like we could take our picnic basket there."
"That sounds great. You should have seen Mrs. Lansbary this morning. She was so embarassed to admit that she had found a recipe for Greek potato salad in the local paper!" Laura laughed at her husband's expression of dismay. "I shouldn't have told you until after you ate it!"
Stefan gave an exaggerated shudder of horror at the very thought of Mrs. Lansbary taking cooking advice from the Port Charles newspaper, and smiled at his wife's peals of laughter. He made an abrupt left turn onto an unpaved road, and concentrated on avoiding potholes. He drove slowly, locating a spot where they could safely leave the car and walk the short distance to the stream.
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After consuming a luncheon that included what Stefan agreed was an undeniably delicious "quasi-Greek something", Laura sat while he lay with his head in her lap, looking up at the sky through the arched branches of the trees overhead. The feeling of harmony in his personal life and with the world around him was almost overwhelming. He wanted nothing to damage or alter what he and Laura had begun building together. He was not afraid, but wary of the challenges which lay ahead.
Reluctantly, he began to speak. "I was monitoring Lesley Lu's room last night, because I thought that she might sleep more comfortably if she were aware that I could hear any sound of distress. She has been having a recurrent dream. Not a nightmare, but a dream which disturbs her somewhat. I believe that she will tell you about it soon, and that you should wait for her to do so. I am sorry if you were alarmed. On the other hand, perhaps I should be alarmed too if you have come to read me so easily. How will I ever be able to keep a secret again?"
He sat up and grinned at her, but his face became grave as he looked at Laura's shuttered face.
"Why did she tell you about the dream and not me?"
"She was afraid that her dream would make you sad. She told me, because I asked her why she has not been sleeping well. She has come into my study and slept on my couch twice this week." Stefan carefully took her hands in his, as if physical contact could somehow ease the impact of the information.
He read the unspoken question on her face. "I believe that seeing Luke is distressing to her, and that their visitations are not going well. You know that I love her, and I do..." he paused, and sighed. "Have a solution to propose. I am very much afraid that it will anger you, but nevertheless, I think that we should consider asking Luke to relinquish parental rights to Lesley Lu, and let me adopt her. It would, ultimately, I believe, save our child from a heartache that she in no way deserves."
Laura, dry-eyed, watched the stream tumble over the small rocks, diverge and move around the larger ones, somehow continue its course over, past, around the obstacles in its path. She loved the sounds of rushing water. Long ago, on the island, the steady ebb and flow of the tide had been a constant reminder of the undiminished power of nature, and the inconsequence of her own small sufferings.
For a moment, she did not speak, only held his hands tighter as if seeking reassurance in the same way he had. Finally, she spoke. "In our lives, you and I have experienced betrayal, love, grief, great pain and devastating cruelty. I have been reminded many times by others, that by all odds, we should never have been able to overcome that past." Laura paused, and watched the play of the sunlight on the stream's surface for a moment.
"But we did. We did get past it. How could I ever be angry with you for loving Lulu so much that you want to shield her from hurt, make her your own?" The clear blue eyes looked into his at last. "Thank you. For Nikolas. For waiting for me. For loving Lesley Lu."
Tears glinted in both their eyes as he pulled her into his arms. She kissed him, then pulled back and said, "I have to think about this for a while, okay? The thing is, I keep wondering about this quotation I remember. I don't know where it's from. 'A friend is worth all the hazards you can run.' "
But what about a father, Stefan? Shouldn't a real relationship with a father be more important? But how many hazards? How much pain should a child be asked to tolerate if another person can't or won't love them? "
"I do not know," he replied simply. Laura looked back out at the water and the woods beyond.
Wrapping his arms around his wife, he settled down to wait. A bird called in the distance. The woman he loved most rested in his arms. A sudden gust of wind and a change in the angle of the sunlight slanting down on their blanket reminded him that it was indeed late autumn. He reached behind him for an extra blanket and gently wrapped it around Laura. Lost in thought, she gazed at the tumbling stream, but he didn't mind. Stefan Cassadine was a patient man.
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